Stampless Folded Letter Sheet. The mailing
information and the letter are all on one single sheet of paper. The letter
was written over a period of many days, 24 March to 17 April. Gray Oval Ship Letter Postmark:
DEAL Manuscript: 10 Addressee:
Rev. Doctor John Rippon
No. 11 Grange Road
Southwark ---
London Docket:
Honored by
Capt. Scott British circular rust backstamp:
E
J__ 27
1804Letters Author:
Edmund Botsford Contents:

Geo Town March 24, 1804

Rev dear Sir.

It has not been for want
of inclination, or of matter that has prevented
me from writing to you before this, but a consciousness of my inability to
write any thing correctly, I am pleased however to see so many of my dear
Brethren contribute to your design & assist you with intelligence for your
Register, which I beg leave to inform you has been to me & many others highly
pleasing & very profitable. I cannot pretend to describe pleasing sensations
the reading of some things in your work has afforded me. I thank you, & I
bless God from the bottom of my heart for inclining & assisting you in the
same. Your selection of Hymns & your arrangement of Doctor Wattss Hymns &
Psalms I think deserve the thanks of all the friends of Zion. I think it my
duty to recommend them as far as my very small influence extends.
At this late period I sincerely thank you for the several little, but real
tokens of respect with which you have favored me, for none more than the life
of that good old disciple Mr. Leppard; I never saw the good old man, but I
trust I shall in a little time; for I do not expect to live many more years.
I have lived in this Town 7 years & I do not know if I have been instrumental
to the conversion of one person -- I have baptised 4 Negroes, but they were
not, strictly speaking, the fruit of my ministry.
Negroes, their souls are as precious in
ye light of God as any others. It is
probable that you have heard of a pleasing revival of Religion at Beaufort,
ye residence of my young friend Mr. Cook.
It is rather extraordinary that
ye
revival has been & continues, among
ye higher class, it is both among
ye
independents & Baptists -- I have been informed it originated by a visit of a
Gentleman who had been on ye Judiciary Bench, by
ye name of Elay, of
ye State
of Georgia, & who Sometime since has been baptised by Mr. Notcomb, & lately
ordained a Minister of ye Baptist Society.
it is said he is a most amiable
character -- I have been invited to attend with him and & Doctor Furman at
ye
ordination of Mr. Charles Lereven -- I rather think I shall be prevented from
attending -- If I do attend I shall take this letter with me finish & Send it
from Charleston where
ye ordination is to be performed. The friends of
Britain, of whom I consider my self one, tremble for your fate -- I doubt
not, thousands in America are pouring out earnest prayers for you
preservation. We have been some time in great suspense respecting you, no
Ship directly from any part of
ye united Kingdom having arrived for an
unusual length of time. Mar 27th
Apl 1st
The above appointment in Charleston
does not take place till May. We have
recd
acct
from Britton that ye
Invasion had not taken place, that
ye King was ill & that Prince of Wales was
much displeased with
ye Royal conduct toward him -- I sincerely wish you & my
native Country the best of blessings. May we all be prepared for
ye great
events of which futurity seems pregnant.

Will Doctor Rippon be so obliging amidst
ye great variety of his important
engagements, to employ a leisure minute to writ a line
ye writer of this.
April 4th Yesterday my drooping
spirits were much revived by conversing with
2 persons whom I hope are converted & who it is probable will join our church
at our next communion season -- my poor unworthy labours have been blessed to
them -- who but these 2 are
ye first fruits of a larger in gathering -- I
know you Joy Amen.
Lords Day Apl15th. This day I
baptised the two persons aluded to above., in
Sampit River in preference of a very large number of Spectator. It was a fine
pleasant day, the Congregation behaved with great seriousness -- A greater
number staid to see us communicate than have staid for some years past.
The persons I baptised were my fourth wife & her Sister & I will be
thankful, forever thankful. He has heard my prayers, having in the course of
my Ministry baptised 284 persons 60 of whom were black. But surely it is very
trying to live 7 years in a place & ones labours not blesst to
ye conversion
of one soul. Notwithstanding my want of success I dare not conclude I ought
not to be here. Our present place of worship stands at the S E extremity of
ye Town in a low wet situation it was built by
subscription for
ye use of
Independents and Presbyterians, when any of their ministers should come to
town, as well as Baptists -- The house was out of repair, it would take a
large sum to give it a proper one -- these considerations, together with our
having a lot of our own (given by
ye original Proprietor of
ye town) in a
pleasant convenient situation, induced us to open a Subscription for building
a new House, one family and &
ye several branches subscribe £ 420 pounds
sterling. The dimensions of
ye House are about 60 feet by 40 , exclusive of a
Steeple, the house is built of wood on a brick foundation, it is now almost
ready for service. We please our selves when we get into our new house our
congregation will be more regular and respectable. On my return from our
association at the High=hills of Santee Nov 1802, I attended a Camp-meeting
at a place called Kings Tree, about 50 miles from this place. The meeting was
convened & concluded by the Presbyterian clergy, 4 of whom were present, 2
Methodists & 2 Baptists, & about the 1000 people, it began on Friday & broke
up on Monday. I think there was as little confusion or enthusiasm as ever I
saw at a meeting of
ye kind -- here I had an opportunity of seeing some of
those strange bodily exercises, & was indeed my self a subject to them, tho not
to so great a degree as some;
ye chief agitation I felt was when in bed --
the cause &
ye feeling are difficult to describe -- at
ye time of
ye
agitation I had no particular impression of mine -- The next evening sitting
by the fire, before our tent, where some young people were singing, I think
it was about eight oclock, in a very instantaneous manner I had such views
of
ye fulness of Christ, of
ye goodness of God & of
ye abominable nature of sin
& its dire effects, that I never remember to have had, accompanied with an
earnest desire to communicate my views to all arround me -- when
ye singing
was ended I began to exhort, sinner to believe in Christ, & Saints to honour
him by a holy life & conversation -- I went frome fire to fire exhorting till
4 o~clock in
ye morning. I came home happy & communicated
what I had seen,
heard & felt -- I set up evening lectures, from house to house, & seldom
preached less than 5 or 6 times in
ye week ye
remainder of
ye winter,
ye
ensuing Spring & Summer, till I was taken ill on
ye
7th
of October -- but no
additions to our church -- The Methodists however have had a revival,
attended with such confusion & disorder, that whenever I was among them I
lost every span of devotion -- I hope some of
ye work was accompanied with
divine influence but I greatly fear ___ converted -- their doors are wide &
several have been added to their Society & some already expelled --
ye great
number who joined were ____[end of page]

I have buried most of the respectable members of this church. Also a Daughter
of nine years of age, an only son of 18 & my third Wife. On the
7th of last
October I was seised with a violent fever which I fully expected would have
terminated in death, but I was disapointed: On
ye 26 of
Novr
I was enable to
preach one sermon. The Winter has been very wet & uncomfortable, which with a
peculiar complaint in my right eye, has prevented me from attending to the
duties of my function in a great measure. However useless I have been in Geo
Town to others, to me it has been a School of instruction. My last sickness
was much blessed, I never saw so much of God & Christ, nor so much of sin &
self -- so that I feel thankful for it, For what I am spared, time will
discover, perhaps for greater trials; well the will of the heavenly Father be
done, he knows best what will suit us & I think my desire is to be wholly at
his disposal -- He called me by his grace when in
ye midst of sin -- he
called me to ye work of
ye ministry when in such circumstances that every one
thought it was a delusion -- He blessed my labour where there was little
prospect of success -- He brought me through a variety of dangers &
difficulties & does still support me even under the present trying scene; I
am not destitude of hope
yet of seeing some fruit of my poor unworthy labour
in this place, The seed lie buried long in _st, it shant deceive their hope.
Many a dear Servant of Christ has not been favored so much as I have been.
When I entered on
ye Ministry my cry was Lord bless
me to one soul.

My preaching in this Town many years ago was blessed to the awakening of Mr.
Botsford -- Since Lords day I heard of two or three others persons who are on
the enquiry. Last Lords day week 7 were baptised in Beaufort most of whom are
very respectable character. Apl 17

Notes:
Edmund Botsford, the
author of this letter, was born in England in 1745 (died 1819).
He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina 1766 and he united with Baptist church
of Charleston, Mar 13, 1767. He prepared for the ministry under Rev. Oliver Hart and in
Feb 1771 was licensed to preach. He was invited to preach in Georgia by the
Tuckaseeking brethren, remained there for one year. Botsford Baptist Church at
McBean Georgia carries Rev. Edmund Botfotds name. He founded the church
along the Savannah River in 1773. He later moved the church to Briar Creek near
McBean, Georgia. He was ordained 14 Mar 1773, in Charleston, by Rev. Oliver Hart.
Edmund Botsford left Georgia in the spring of 1779, for South Carolina. As our letter
demonstrates, Botsford was instrumental in establishing a Baptist church in
Georgetown. Todays First Baptist Church in Georgetown is a direct descendant
of Botsfords church. Botsford died in 1818 at Georgetown and is buried there.
His grave has recently been damaged by a falling tree, the grave is in need of restoration.

John Rippon,
the recipient of the letter, was born 29 Apr 1751,
Tiverton, Devon, England, and died, 17 Dec 1836,
Surrey, England. He is buried at Bunhill Fields Cemetery, London. He wrote, A
Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, Intended to Be an Appendix to Dr.
Wattss Psalms and Hymns (1787). His
edition is claimed to be one of the most commonly used in hymn books today. He was
also the editor of the Baptist Register (Rippons
Register).

Doctor Furman, mentioned
in the letter would be Richard Furman who was pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston.